Miguel Angel Palacios Montoya
Miguel Ángel Palacios Montoya, 19, also known as Michelangelo Palace, was allegedly killed by a machete-wielding drunken neighbor at about six in the morning on May 4, 2014 in Envigado, Colombia, after Palacios and his brother Juan Pablo went to the defense of a dog named Jerry.
Juan Pablo Palacios was also injured in the confrontation. The neighbor, Jesús Antonio Castaño, 33, has been charged with murder.
A Colombian citizen born in Miami, Florida, living in Medallin, Miguel Ángel and Juan Pablo Palacios were reportedly in Envigado on their school break.
Beth & Merritt Clifton.
(Geoff Geiger photo)
A volunteer for the Corporación Canes Perdidos/Lost Dogs Rescue shelter in Medallin, Miguel Ángel Palacios apparently heard Castaño threatening to behead Jerry, who was the pet of a man named Albeiro Cortez. Cortez was not present during the confrontation, in which Castaño allegedly also attacked the Palacios brothers with a knife.
After the killing, Cortez gave Jerry to Palacios’ mother, Lina Maria Montoya.
Corporación Canes Perdidos director Diana Carolina Ortiz and the directors of 24 other Colombia animal rescue groups have announced the formation of a new rescue entity called Miguel Angel’s Ark.
Horrendous and senseless. My deepest condolences to the family of this brave man. May others follow in his footsteps and step up to defend the defenseless. I’m relieved that the dog is safe.